Beware of the Cow
by Jestress
Summary: This is the story of the first Halloween Lee and Amanda spend together, after the first episode . . . and those weird cow-shaped signs in Amanda's family room.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Most of the characters in this story are from the tv show Scarecrow and Mrs. King and do not belong to me. I have not received any money for writing this. Reviews are my only reward. Be generous and donate some! At least, wish me Happy Halloween or Happy Birthday!

**Explanation:** One day, I was watching the first episode of the series, and I noticed that there were a couple of cow-shaped signs propped up against the bookshelves in Amanda's family room, one that said "Beware of the Cow" and another that said "Please don't pick the flowers." It was so totally random that I had to come up with an explanation for it. I also thought that it was funny that, even though the show clearly takes place around Halloween because of all the Halloween decorations, nobody ever actually says that it's Halloween. If you listened to the show without looking at the screen, you wouldn't know what time of year it was.

My birthday is close to Halloween, so the holiday has a special appeal for me. :) I'm starting the celebration a little early, though, because this Oct. 3rd is the 30th anniversary of SMK. This story is meant to take place directly after the first episode and before the second (which is fudging things a bit, if you go by the air dates of the episodes, but since there aren't any Halloween decorations in the second episode, I decided that Halloween must be over). Enjoy!

**Beware of the Cow**

**By Jestress**

**Prologue: The Lady in the Grocery Store**

The man looked behind him. He couldn't see his pursuers, but he knew they were still there, somewhere in the darkness. If he hadn't turned his ankle back there, he would have had more of a chance of getting away. Although, for some reason, they were taking their time. They should have caught up with him by now.

If they were hanging back, it was probably because they were hoping to catch him with his contact. Well, they were going to be disappointed. There was no way that he'd lead them to one of his fellow agents. Somehow, he would have to get a warning to him. Failing that, he could at least lead his pursuers in the opposite direction.

His best hope of getting help was somewhere with other people. There weren't many stores open at this time of night, not in this part of town. The only place he saw nearby was a grocery store. There weren't many cars in the parking lot, but even if there were only a few people there, it might be enough.

The light inside seemed incredibly bright after he'd been running around in the dark for so long. The first person he saw was a woman looking at a large display of Halloween candy. She seemed thoughtful as she picked up a couple of packages and put them in her cart.

"Excuse me, Miss," the man said, walking up to her. "Could you help me?"

She jumped slightly, like he'd scared her.

"Oh, I don't work here," she said, laughing and shrugging.

"I don't mean that," the man said. "I mean, uh, do you have any change? I could use some change for the phone. Can you break a dollar?" The man reached into his pocket.

"Oh, well, I think so," she said. "Let me check."

The man glanced nervously at the door. Had someone just come in? He'd thought so, but he couldn't see anyone there. That was probably a bad sign.

"Let's see . . . I've got two quarters, and here are a couple of dimes," the lady said, still digging for change.

The man wanted to tell her to hurry, but then he glanced at her cart and had another idea.

When the lady looked up from her purse and smiled at him, he handed her the dollar and took the change she offered.

"Thank you," he said, giving her one last long look. "I think a storm may be coming. You take care getting home."

"You, too," the lady said. "Have a good night."

As the man walked away, she stared after him for a moment. Then, she shook her head and took another look at the candy display. After placing one more bag in her cart, she headed to the check-out.

Meanwhile, the man started searching for a pay phone. One of the clerks directed him to one at the back of the store, near the restrooms. He looked around carefully before putting his newly-acquired change in the slot. Even so, he wasn't really that surprised when someone came up behind him and whispered, "Don't move!"

The gun at his back really seemed almost inevitable.


	2. The Scream in the Night

**Chapter 1: The Scream in the Night**

Amanda King had just come home from a late trip to the store. She was tired, and she wouldn't have gone out at all except that they were out of milk and bread and would need them for breakfast tomorrow. Of course, once she was at the store, she decided that she had to pick up a few other things as well, giving her more to carry into the house.

A storm was coming. The wind had picked up, blowing fallen leaves into her face as she carried two bags of groceries to the front door.

Hefting the bags as well as she could with one arm, she put her key in the lock with her other hand and turned the knob . . .

"AAAAAAHHHH! No!" came a scream from inside. "Wait!"

Amanda took a moment to recover herself and pick up the bag of groceries she'd dropped, thankful that it wasn't the one with the eggs in it. From inside the house, there were a couple of clunks and scrapes, and then Amanda's mother opened the door.

"You startled me with that scream," Amanda said.

"Sorry, dear," Dotty said, helping Amanda into the house. "I had the stepstool in front of the door, and I was afraid that you'd knock it over. Here, let me take one of those."

Dotty took one of the grocery bags from Amanda.

"What were you doing with the stepstool?" Amanda asked.

"Just hanging up some more decorations."

One thing that Amanda and her mother shared was that they liked to decorate for holidays. They'd started putting up various decorations for Halloween at the beginning of October, but Dotty had found a few more that she just couldn't resist adding to their collection. The garland of red and orange leaves that Dotty had just hung over the door was colorful, but Amanda wasn't in the mood for dead leaves at the moment.

"I'd better get these groceries into the kitchen, Mother," she said.

"I'll help you," Dotty said, glancing into the bag she was holding. "Oh! You've bought the Halloween candy! I was wondering when you were going to pick some up."

Amanda usually liked to buy the candy as close to Halloween as possible because the stores would have it on sale. Originally, she was going to wait until the day of Halloween to go shopping for candy, but she had seen some for a good price at the grocery store this evening and decided to go ahead and buy it.

"We've got to get it hidden before the boys find it and start sneaking some," Amanda said.

"Do you suppose we could sneak a little before the boys find out?" Dotty asked with a sly grin.

"Maybe you'd better let me take that bag," Amanda said. "You take this one."

"Okay," Dotty said, laughing as she traded bags with Amanda. "I just bought another box of pecan divinity the other day, anyway."

"You've been to Cozy Country again?" Amanda asked, referring to one of Dotty's favorite stores. It sold old-fashioned candy, novelty toys, and country-themed decorations.

"That's right," Dotty said. "That's where I got the leaves. You know, I like their Halloween decorations better than most of the other stores. Everything there is cute and old-fashioned, and most of it has a harvest theme instead of those ugly, blood-dripping monsters that you see other places."

Amanda smiled. "Of course, the boys think that kind of thing is cool. Part of the fun of Halloween is being scared."

"I don't see what's so fun about being scared," Dotty said. "They can make their Halloween scary if they want to, but I prefer to think of it as a harvest festival."

"Well, I'd better get this candy hidden before our little monsters find it," Amanda said.

"Hide it somewhere good but somewhere you won't forget," Dotty said. "I've done that with birthday presents before, hidden them somewhere clever and then had trouble remembering where they were."

"I think I know just the place, Mother."


	3. Lee's New Partner

**Chapter 2: Lee's New Partner**

"Richardson didn't complete the hand-off last night," Billy Melrose said, pacing his office. "He was on his way to meet his contact around nine o'clock when he reported that he thought he was being tailed. That's the last anybody heard from him."

"Do you think he's dead?" Lee Stetson asked. That question never got any easier, although Lee had asked similar ones way too many times in his life.

"We haven't found a body," Billy said, "and until we do, I'm going to assume he's not."

Francine Desmond leaned against Billy's desk. "Richardson had infiltrated a Russian safe house somewhere in the D.C. area," she said. "For the last few days, communications with him have been sporadic. Yesterday, he said that he had some vital information and requested that we send someone to meet him at a park so that he could pass the information along. However, he never showed up."

"Where was he when he last reported in?" Lee asked.

"In Arlington," Billy said. "The Russian safe house is probably somewhere in Arlington. Richardson called from a gas station for his routine check-in about an hour before his meeting in the park. He said that he thought that he was being followed but that he would try to lose the tail. He was still hopeful of making the meeting."

"Did he say what kind of information he was carrying?" Lee asked.

"Not really," Billy said, "just that it was something for Crypto."

"So all we really know right now is that he disappeared somewhere in Arlington," Lee said thoughtfully.

"Arlington!" Francine said cheerfully. "Isn't that where your little housewife lives?"

"She's not _my_ little housewife," Lee grumbled. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.

A couple of weeks ago, he had bumped into Amanda King purely by accident at the train station. Like Richardson, Lee was carrying a package that day that he had to pass along to his contact, a man wearing a red hat on a train. However, Lee was being chased, and he was afraid that the men who were after him would get the package before he could meet his contact. While he'd been desperately trying to elude the men following him, he'd spotted a pretty woman walking down the platform toward him.

Yes, he could admit to himself that Amanda King was pretty and pleasant enough when she wasn't talking his ears off or poking her nose into his business. That day on the platform, he'd needed help, and her open, honest face and big brown eyes had caught his attention. He'd begged her to help him, to get on the train and give his contact the package.

Amazingly, she'd done it, even though she'd clearly thought that he was out of his mind at the time. At least, she'd tried to do it. She'd gotten on the train, but unexpected interference from a traveling group of Shriners had kept her from finding his contact.

From there on, Amanda had become more entangled in Lee's mission than he'd intended and had been surprisingly helpful. Amanda's awkward and unorthodox yet strangely effective approach to spy work had fascinated Billy. To Lee's mortification, Billy had also developed an interest in partnering him with Amanda on a regular basis.

At first, he'd thought that Billy was just joking about making Amanda his new partner, but in the last few days, he'd made it clear that he was serious. Since his last partner's death, Lee had rejected all of Billy's attempts to assign him a new one. Anytime he'd had to work with another agent on a case, Lee emphasized that it would only be a temporary arrangement. Lee had even gone so far as to tell Billy that if he ever got a new partner, he would choose when and who it would be. But, this strange housewife that he'd recruited for what he'd thought would be a brief, simple task had managed to get herself tangled up in his business, and Billy seemed determined to keep her there.

In the last few days, Billy had ordered a complete background check on Amanda King, including her family ties, social activities, and all known associations. It was everything that the Agency needed to give Amanda a low-level security clearance. Billy had also put Lee in charge of this background check, saying that since they would be working closely from now on, he might as well begin getting to know Amanda better.

That was why it wasn't much of a surprise when Billy said, "I want you to work with Mrs. King on this. Richardson disappeared in her area, very close to her neighborhood, so she should be just the person to help you."

Lee began massaging his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.

"Our people combed the area last night and this morning," Billy continued. "They didn't find a trace of Richardson. His car was parked outside the gas station, and there are signs that someone may have searched it. After we found it this morning, we posted someone to watch it, and no one has tried to come near it since. Mrs. King might have some ideas that will help you continue the search."

Francine grinned like the Cheshire Cat and said, "And maybe afterward, the two of you could exchange recipes for meatloaf, or she could teach you 50 ways to get stains out of clothing using only items from her grocery list."

"Zip it, Francine," Lee growled.

"Francine," Billy said, "why don't you run up to Cryptology and ask them for their report on Richardson? I asked them to compile their most recent communications with him to help figure out what he might have been carrying last night."

When she was gone, Lee said seriously, "Billy, Amanda King lucked out when she helped me on my last case. She doesn't really have any skills. It was all just luck! Do you really think it's a good idea to have her come with me on a case where we might already have a dead agent?"

"Yes, I do," Billy said. "On your last case, we already had more than one dead agent by the time Mrs. King got involved, and she did just fine. In fact, she did more than fine. She has more skills than you give her credit for. And, there is one other advantage that she has that none of the agents I've tried to partner you with had."

"Like what?" Lee asked morosely.

Now, it was Billy's turn to grin. "She was your choice, Scarecrow. You chose her yourself."

Lee closed his eyes and sighed. This was turning into a nightmare.

"Working with Amanda will be good for you," Billy said firmly. "You've gone without a partner for too long. Give it a chance. You may decide that you like it."

Lee glared at Billy and said, "Don't scare me like that."


	4. The Men in the Brown Sedan

**Chapter 3: The Men in the Brown Sedan**

"I want mom to help me with my costume!" Jamie protested as Amanda pinned up the hem of Philip's cape.

"Your costume is easy, Wormbrain!" Philip said. "All you've got to do is wear old clothes and—"

"Mom! Philip called me Wormbrain!"

"I heard him," Amanda said. "Philip, do not call your brother Wormbrain, and Jamie, I'll help you with your costume next. Get your grandmother to—"

They were interrupted by the ringing of the telephone.

"I'll get it!" Dotty said from the kitchen.

Amanda heard her mother say, "Hello? Just one moment. Amanda! It's for you."

"Could you finish with Philip's cape?" Amanda asked as she stood up. "Then, make a list for me of what Jamie needs for his costume."

"No problem. Let me see that cape."

While Dotty knelt to have a look at Philip's cape, Amanda hurried over to the phone.

"Hello?"

Without any preamble, the familiar voice on the line said, "Mrs. King? Are you busy this afternoon?"

"What?"

"Are you busy? We could use your help with something."

"Help with what?" Amanda asked eagerly. If Lee Stetson was calling her for help, Mr. Melrose must have been serious about his job offer.

"Do you know the gas station at Grove and Madison?"

"Sure."

"Can you meet me there in about an hour?"

"Yes, but—"

"Great. I'll see you there."

There was a click on the line as he hung up. Amanda stood there, holding the phone. She had no idea what Lee was talking about, but something important must have come up for him to call her like this. She glanced over at her mother and the boys and saw that her mother was giving her an odd look.

Since she was still holding the phone, Amanda smiled, gave a little laugh, and said, "Well, if it's that important, I'll take care of it. No, it's no trouble at all. I'm glad to help. I'll see you soon! Good-bye!"

"Who was that?" Dotty asked.

"Someone from my club," Amanda said lightly. "They want me to, um, pick up some pamphlets that we're going to pass out at our next meeting."

"Pamphlets? About saving the clams?"

"That's right," Amanda said. "Ways to save the clams . . . Why we should be concerned about saving the clams . . ."

"Pick up one for me, too," Dotty said. "I'd like to know why we should be concerned about saving the clams."

"Sure, Mother, I'll try," Amanda said with a sigh.

About an hour later, she pulled into the parking lot at the gas station to find Lee Stetson already standing there, leaning up against his Porsche. As she pulled into the next space over, he walked around the car to open her door for her.

"Ready to get started?" he asked as she got out.

"Get started with what? Lee, what are we doing here?"

"Amanda, I need . . . Billy suggested that I recruit you to help us with something," Lee said.

"With what?" Amanda asked. He could see the spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"I have to drive this car over to the Agency's impound lot," Lee said, pointing to the red Plymouth a couple of spaces away. "Someone there will be performing a thorough search of the car, but I'd like to have a look at it myself first."

"Have a look at it for what? Whose car is that?"

"I'll explain while we're doing the searching. I'll start with the front seats, and you look in the back."

Amanda noticed that Lee didn't bother to unlock the car doors to let them in. They were already unlocked. It was a two-door car, so Lee folded down the front passenger seat so that Amanda could climb into the back.

"We're just giving things a brief once over," Lee said. "Just look under the seats and see if you can spot anything unusual. I'll pop the trunk so we can have a look in there, too. I'm going to check the glove compartment."

"Lee, I don't know what I'm looking for!" Amanda protested. "I'd like to help you, but I don't see how I can until I know what's going on!"

Lee sighed. "I know. It's just hard right now because I'm not totally sure what we're looking for, either. All I know is that one of our agents is missing, a man named Richardson, and he was carrying something important that he'd obtained from a Russian safe house in the area."

"But you don't know what it was?" Amanda asked as she climbed into the back of the car.

"No. Before he disappeared last night, he thought that the Russians may have been following him. Then, we found his car here this morning. The doors were unlocked, probably with Richardson's own keys, and it looks like the car has been searched. That makes us think that they didn't get whatever Richardson was carrying last night," Lee said as he unfolded the front passenger seat and sat down to look in the glove compartment.

"But if they searched this car before, how do you know that they didn't already find what they were looking for?" Amanda asked, getting out her little keychain flashlight and leaning down to look under the front seats.

"Because Richardson's registration is missing, and his apartment was also searched. A lot less neatly than the car, I might add. I discovered that when I went to get his spare car keys so I could move his car. If the KGB found what they were looking for in the car, they wouldn't have continued searching. We're taking another look at the car in the hopes that they missed whatever they were looking for."

Amanda poked her hand down the back seats in case someone had slipped something between the cushions.

"There's nothing in the glove compartment," Lee said. "I'm going to check the trunk."

"There's nothing back here, either. Could you let me out?" Amanda asked.

Lee reached over to pop the trunk lid and then helped Amanda out of the back seat.

There was nothing of interest in the trunk. Richardson had a spare tire, a first aid kit, and a small box of tools, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

"Well, Richardson may win awards for having one of the tidiest cars in the world," Lee said, "but as far as I can tell, there's nothing in here that's going to help us. We'd better get it over to the Agency's lot."

"What will the Agency do with the car?"

"They'll go over it more thoroughly, check under the upholstery and other places that would be more difficult for us to search. Amanda, don't move for a moment."

"Why?"

"I think there's someone watching us."

"Who?"

"A couple of guys in a brown sedan, behind you. Don't look at them!"

Amanda had been about to turn around, but she froze. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, I was going to have you follow me to the Agency's impound lot so that you could drive me back to my car after I dropped off this one, but I think I'll have to change plans. You're coming with me."

"I'm coming with you? In the Plymouth? What about my car?"

"We'll get it later. Just get in the car."

Lee ushered her into the car, closing the door when she was settled in the passenger seat. As he walked around the car to get in the driver's seat, Amanda tried to casually glance at the brown sedan. From where she sat, she could see the car but not the people inside.

As Lee pulled out of the parking lot, he said, "We're going to take a turn around the block and see if they follow us. If they don't, I'll bring you back to your car, and we'll go to the impound lot. If they do, we're going to have to lose them."

"Lose them? How?"

Lee grinned. "I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

The brown sedan stayed with them as they circled the block around the gas station.

"They're still there," Amanda said.

"Okay, they're definitely following us," Lee said, watching the car in his mirrors. "Don't look back at them. It's better that they assume we haven't spotted them yet."

"What are you going to do?

"We need a place that's busy this time of day. Someplace with a large parking lot full of cars, preferably close by."

"There's three places that I can think of."

"Where?"

"There's a shopping mall, a car dealership, and a pizza place where high school students like to hang out."

"Those all sound good. Which is the closest?"

"The pizza place is about a mile down the road from here, on the right."

"Okay, we'll go there. You've got your seat belt fastened?"

"Yes."

"Good. Just tell me when to turn. And hang on."

"We're not going fast."

"We will be."

When they pulled into the parking lot at the pizza place, Amanda saw a large group of kids and adults crossing the lot. She knew that they were there for a birthday party because they were carrying presents and balloons.

"Be careful of the children, Lee!"

"I see them," he growled.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. If we're going to do something dangerous, we shouldn't do it around kids."

"They'll be okay. It's not really dangerous, just tricky. This is really more a matter of timing than anything else."

Lee circled the lot a couple of times until he saw someone's backup lights go on.

"Hang on!" he said, speeding up.

Amanda gasped as they raced past the car backing up. Glancing back, she saw that the brown sedan was blocked now that the car had backed up further. There was loud honking from the brown sedan. Then, Lee veered off through some empty parking spaces, quickly heading toward one of the exits from the parking lot and back onto the main street.

"Are they still following us?" he asked.

"No," Amanda said, looking behind them again. "Are you sure that wasn't dangerous?"

"Well, it was less dangerous than letting the KGB catch us, and I was careful to watch for pedestrians."

Shakily, Amanda nodded. "That was scary."

"I've seen scarier. Now, we'll get this car to the Agency's lot and grab a taxi back to our cars. Then, I've got to go to the Agency and report this incident."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay. You can go on home. I'll call you later if I need you."

"Lee, if they're the ones who were after Richardson, then they're also probably the ones who searched this car earlier, right?"

"I suppose so, yeah."

"So, if they already searched it, why are they after this car now?"

"I don't think they've found what they're looking for yet," Lee said grimly. "That means that we'd better find it first."


	5. The Face at the Window

**Chapter 4: The Face at the Window**

That evening, Lee peered through Amanda's kitchen window, trying to get a good view around the cutout pumpkins that had been taped to the glass. He'd tried calling her earlier, but the line had been busy. He knew that he couldn't simply go up to her front door and ring the bell. Her family knew nothing about him, and his business with her wasn't anything that he could explain to them.

The last time Lee had been to Amanda's house, he had stood at this window, dripping wet after the fiasco they'd had escaping from some men who were chasing them. It was definitely not Lee's finest hour. Amanda had slipped him a bunch of paper towels through the window so that he could dry off a bit, trying to keep her mother from seeing them and asking questions.

Now, neither of the women were in the kitchen. In fact, there was no sign of anyone. The car was in the driveway, so Lee thought that Amanda was probably at home. The window was slightly open, but Lee didn't dare try to call to her in case her mother or one of the boys heard him.

Just as he was debating whether to try climbing up to the second floor windows to look for Amanda or whether he should wait by the kitchen window a little longer, Amanda stepped into the room.

"You boys get into bed, and I'll bring you up some hot chocolate!" she called out.

"With marshmallows!" two young voices called back to her.

"With marshmallows, of course! Not that they really need the sugar, eh, Mr. Scarecrow?" she murmured to the cutout scarecrow that decorated her pantry.

"If you give them too much, they'll probably never get to sleep," Lee said sagely from the window.

Amanda jumped and turned to face him. Lee gave her a cheery little wave. The scarecrow comment had been too tempting to resist.

When Amanda recognized him, she relaxed a little, but not completely.

"You scared me! What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were going to call."

"The line was busy. You really should keep your windows closed at night. It's safer. Are you free to talk?"

"Yes, but I've got to take hot chocolate to the boys in a few minutes."

"They're both upstairs?"

"Yes."

"Where's your mother?"

"She's upstairs, too. She's been talking on the phone all evening to her sister in Topeka."

"Ah, that explains why I wasn't able to get through when I tried to call earlier. Can I come in for a minute?"

Amanda hesitated. "Alright," she said, "but you'll have to leave if someone comes downstairs."

She went to the back door and unlocked it for him, letting him into the family room next to the kitchen.

Lee looked around Amanda's family room. Even though it was right next to the sparkling clean kitchen, it was a very different room, full of clutter and random Halloween decorations. One of the boys had left his shoes in the middle of the floor. There was an open backpack with books and papers spilling out of it on the coffee table. A couple of toy trucks were parked at the base of the bookcase, and some super hero actions figures seemed to be duking it out next to the ceramic pumpkin on top of the tv. A woman's coat was draped over the arm of the couch, and a purse that didn't look like Amanda's sat next to it. Probably her mother's, Lee thought. In all the clutter of items, he didn't see anything that looked like it belonged to Amanda, only things that belonged to her mother and her sons.

She's probably a neatnik, Lee decided. Amanda's coat was probably hung in the coat closet, like it should be. Any space that Amanda controlled was likely to be neat and orderly, like the kitchen. The family room was different because she shared that space with three other people. Yet, in spite of the messiness, Lee had to admit that the room felt cozy. Or maybe it was because of the messiness, considering what his apartment looked like.

A quick scan of the bookshelves showed a wide variety of reading tastes, from classics to romance novels and from history to how-to. There was a section of children's books and a set of encyclopedias. For some unfathomable reason, there were also pictures of pigs tacked to the bookshelves and a couple of cow-shaped signs that read "Beware of the Cow" and "Please don't pick the flowers."

"What are those for?" Lee asked Amanda, pointing to the cows.

"They're for Halloween."

"Halloween? What do cows have to do with Halloween?"

"Nothing. It's more of a harvest festival thing."

"Huh?" For some reason, Amanda's explanations tended to leave more questions than they answered.

"Mother likes to think of Halloween as a peaceful harvest festival instead of a scary holiday," Amanda said. "She bought the cows at a store called Cozy Country and painted the messages on them herself."

"Why?"

"Mother doesn't want the trick-or-treaters to disturb her flower garden."

"Oh," Lee said. "Well, the 'Please don't pick the flowers' I understand, but why 'Beware of the Cow'?"

Amanda frowned. "You know, I'm not really sure. When Mother painted the signs, she said that it was kind of a joke, but she didn't explain. I don't really get it, either. Look, was there something that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah," Lee said. "Why don't I fill you in while you're making the hot chocolate? We don't want your family coming down to find out why it's taking so long."

"Right," Amanda said.

They headed into the kitchen. Lee went immediately to the window, shutting and latching it, while Amanda began getting out the things she would need for the hot chocolate.

Lee leaned up against the counter while Amanda began measuring cocoa powder and sugar into a saucepan. Then, she poured in a little water and turned up the heat.

"Aren't you supposed to add milk?" Lee asked, confused.

"That comes later," Amanda said expertly. "You start by boiling the sugar and cocoa with some water first."

"Why?"

Amanda shrugged. "It's just the way you make hot chocolate."

It occurred to Lee that this was the first time he had ever watched someone make hot chocolate from scratch. Living alone, Lee was no stranger to cooking, but hot chocolate wasn't part of his usual repertoire. Amanda wasn't even using a recipe. She was doing it all from memory, a sign that she had done this many times before.

"So, what brings you here at this time of night?" Amanda asked, stirring the pot on the stove. "Did you learn anything new at the Agency?"

The motion of her stirring was almost hypnotic. He wrenched his gaze away from it to concentrate on Amanda. Even though she wasn't looking at him, she was waiting eagerly for him to tell her why he was there.

"Yes. We've determined the identities of the KGB agents driving the brown sedan. Their names are Anton Kozlov and Denis Pasternack. We've encountered them before, and it's likely that they are assigned to the safe house that Richardson infiltrated."

"And you still think that they're searching for whatever Richardson was carrying the night they caught him?"

"They wouldn't be going to this much trouble if they'd gotten it when they got Richardson."

"Do you think that he's still alive?" Amanda asked quietly.

"We honestly don't know," Lee said, running a hand through his hair. "Billy's got people out looking for him. I suspect that the Russians would keep him alive as long as they haven't found what they're looking for. Right now, Richardson is the only person who knows where he hid what he was carrying, and they'll probably keep him alive in the hopes that they can get him to talk. I warned you that this business is dangerous, Amanda."

Amanda nodded and continued stirring. "So, do you have any idea what Richardson was carrying?"

"Cryptology thinks that he was after the disks containing the codes that the KGB have been using in their local communications. If we got our hands on those codes, it would cripple their communications network. We would not only be able to translate some of the messages that we've intercepted and haven't been able to interpret yet, but they'd have to devise new codes before they could resume normal communications."

"I see. So what's our next move?"

Lee wished that he could tell her that the next move would be his, not theirs, but he was under orders from Billy to get Amanda's help.

"We have to find Richardson's disks," Lee said. "If you have time tomorrow, I could use . . . perhaps you could help us to pinpoint exactly where Richardson was before he disappeared. If we could figure out exactly where he was before the KGB grabbed him, we might be able to figure out where he hid what he was carrying. Billy thought that you'd be helpful because you know the area. Of course, if you're busy, I'll understand."

He was halfway hoping that she would have an important PTA meeting or something and wouldn't be able to come.

"Oh, no, I'm available," Amanda said. "The boys go to school at eight in the morning, and they have soccer practice afterward. It's Becky Armstrong's turn to give the kids a ride home, so I don't have to be home until about four o'clock."

"Good," said Lee, although he wasn't sure that he really felt good about this at all.

Amanda didn't seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm as she got out the milk and added it to the saucepan. Then, she started getting mugs out of the cupboard.

"Just a moment, I have to get the marshmallows," she said, stepping out of the room. "Keep an eye on the pan for me, okay? I'll be right back."

"You have to get—?" Lee started to ask, but Amanda was already gone.

With a sigh, Lee glanced around Amanda's cozy kitchen. Various kitchen items were decorated with cows and chickens. From what Amanda said, the farmyard theme was probably her mother's idea. Even so, this certainly wasn't what he would expect from a partner of his.

A little chalkboard on the wall contained notes from various members of the family. A message in adult handwriting reminded Amanda to call Dean. Lee remembered that was the name of the guy she'd taken to the train station the day they met. There was also a note from one of the boys about needing help to finish his Halloween costume. A note from his brother said, "You could do it yourself, if you only had a brain."

Lee shook his head. Kids.

Experimentally, Lee gave the hot chocolate a stir. He would have taken a taste, but at that moment, Amanda returned, carrying a bag of marshmallows.

"You don't keep your marshmallows in the kitchen?" Lee asked, returning to his earlier train of thought.

"I can't," she said, setting the bag on the counter next to the mugs. "They disappear too quickly if I do."

"Ah. The boys would eat them all if they could find them?"

"The boys would definitely eat too many, but Mother's the one who would finish the bag. She likes them with peanut butter. When do you want to meet tomorrow?"

"How about I pick you up here around nine tomorrow morning?" Lee suggested, letting the peanut butter-and-marshmallow comment pass.

"If you do, Mother will ask who you are, and I'd rather not explain," Amanda said, taking a taste of the hot chocolate. She nodded and opened a nearby drawer to get a ladle.

"Then, we'll meet somewhere. Is there a coffee shop or something nearby?"

"There's Linda's Café on the corner of Carver and Elm, about a mile from here," Amanda said as she started ladling the hot chocolate into the mugs.

"Sounds good," Lee said. "Meet me there at nine tomorrow. I'll tell you what the rest of the plan is then. Wait, how come you have five mugs here? I thought you were just making chocolate for the boys."

"Well, I thought as long as I was making it, I'd make some for everyone," Amanda said. "It's a chilly night, and hot chocolate is good on chilly nights."

"But there are five mugs," Lee said, mentally counting the members of Amanda's household. Amanda, her mother, the two boys . . . that was four.

"I thought you might like some, too," Amanda said, dropping a marshmallow into one of the mugs and handing it to Lee.

Lee stared at the mug in his hand and then glanced at Amanda's smiling face. She was so cheerful and sincere, it didn't even occur to her how silly it was for her to give an intelligence operative hot chocolate with a marshmallow in it. It did occur to Lee how silly he would look drinking it in Amanda's kitchen, surrounded by farm-themed and Halloween-themed decorations. If Francine were there to see it, she'd laugh her head off. But, Lee had come to recruit Amanda for a job, so he'd have to be polite. Besides, it was chilly, and the chocolate was smelling pretty good.

"Amanda?" Dotty called as she came down the stairs.

"Hide!" Amanda hissed.

Mug still in his hands, Lee quickly headed for the back door. He'd barely made it outside before he heard Dotty say, "Oh, making hot chocolate? Good. It's a chilly night."

After Amanda gave her mother some of the hot chocolate and convinced her to take some to the boys, she hurried over to the back door and stuck her head outside.

"Lee?" she called softly.

There was no answer.

Amanda took a step outside and called again. Lee wasn't there, but the mug she'd handed him was sitting on the picnic table. It was empty.


	6. A Map of the Area

**Chapter 5: A Map of the Area**

Linda's Café was a pleasant little coffee shop with checkered tablecloths and homey decorations. As Lee stirred his coffee, he wondered idly if the owners of the café bought their décor at Cozy Country as well. Their Halloween decorations tended toward leaves and pumpkins, sort of harvest-themed. Amanda's mother would surely approve. Not a ghost or witch in sight.

Lee sighed and checked his watch. It was only two minutes past nine, and he was already bored. Fortunately, he spotted Amanda getting out of her car in the parking lot. The sooner they got on this assignment and found Richardson's disks, the better.

Whether or not Amanda would actually be any help was questionable. Lee only hoped that having her along wouldn't slow down his investigation. Baby-sitting trainee agents could be difficult enough, but Amanda was a civilian with no training whatsoever.

At least he couldn't fault her enthusiasm. She was downright perky this morning as she hurried over to his table.

"Sorry, I'm late," she murmured as she sat down. "Mother wanted me to help her with the outside decorations for Halloween. She said that she could do most of them herself, but there were a couple that had to be hung up—"

"It's okay, Amanda," Lee said. "You're not late."

"Well, it is a bit after nine, and I saw you looking at your watch—"

"It's only two minutes after nine, so you're not late," Lee said firmly. "Now, pay attention.

"I'm paying attention," Amanda said. "Could I have a cup of coffee?"

Lee sighed and signaled to the waitress.

After the waitress brought the coffee for Amanda, Lee said, "Now, let me tell you about our plan for the day. Like I said last night, we're going to try to track Richardson's movements on the night he disappeared. So far, our only leads are the place where he left his car and the place where he was supposed to meet his contact."

"Where was that?"

"Farris Park."

Amanda nodded. "It's just down the street from here at the corner of Carver and Farris Road. That's a pretty small park, but there's a playground and some picnic pavilions. The boys have been to a couple of birthday parties there, and we had a picnic with the scouts—"

"Yeah," Lee said, "Richardson was supposed to meet our guy at pavilion number four. Now, just listen a sec."

Amanda nodded again and took a sip of her coffee.

"When we last heard from Richardson, he was at the gas station where he left his car," Lee continued. "He thought that he was being followed then, so he would have tried to get rid of the tail before heading to the meeting place. The question is what route would he take? I have a map of the area with me, and I thought that we could mark off some likely places that he would go before we begin our search."

"I see," Amanda said. "Now, from what you said, Richardson would have to go from the gas station at Grove and Madison to Farris Park at Carver and Farris. The most direct route would be for him to take Grove to Carver and continue down Carver to Farris."

"But since he thought he was being followed, he wouldn't have taken the most direct route. That may also be the reason he abandoned his car. He may have thought that his car was too noticeable, and a man on foot could duck into a lot of little out-of-the-way places. Although, the best place to lose a follower is in a crowded place."

"Like we did with the car that was following us yesterday?"

"Yeah, only Richardson would have been looking for a place with a lot of people walking around, not a lot of cars."

"What time was it when Richardson disappeared?" Amanda asked.

"Sometime between nine and ten o'clock at night."

"There aren't a lot of shops open around here at that time," Amanda said thoughtfully. "So, there wouldn't be very many people on the street then."

"What places are open at that time of night?" Lee asked.

"There are a couple of restaurants on Grove, a bar on Madison, and the grocery store on Carver. That's the one nearest to my house. I go there all the time."

"Alright," Lee said. "So, here's what we'll do. Let's mark these places on the map and figure out the possible routes that Richardson could have taken to reach them. Then, we'll go over those routes ourselves on foot and see if we can turn up anything."

"Okay. Do you have a pen or something to write with?"

"Here." Lee handed her a black marker.

He watched as Amanda made little "x"s on the map for the places that she mentioned.

"The bar is over here. This is the grocery store, and the two restaurants are close to each other. This one is a diner, and this one has Chinese food," she said.

"Let me have the marker for a sec." Lee circled the corner with the gas station on it. "The gas station is pretty close to all of those."

"He could have gone straight down Grove to the diner or the Chinese restaurant or straight down Madison to the bar."

Lee shook his head. "If the people who were following him had a car, he wouldn't want to follow the main road. He'd have better luck losing them if he took a roundabout way."

"Could I borrow the marker again?" Amanda began drawing little lines connecting the "x"s to the gas station. "The diner is on the same side of Grove as the gas station, so he could have cut through the back alleys here and here. The Chinese restaurant is on the other side of the street, so he'd have to cross somewhere to get there."

"Given the choice, he'd probably go for the diner," Lee said.

"The bar on Madison is on the other side of a strip mall. Richardson would have to either cut through the parking lot, which would be empty at that time, or run along behind all the shops."

"He'd go behind them if went that way. He'd have a better chance of losing the tail."

Amanda frowned thoughtfully. "The area behind the strip mall is more than big enough for a car to maneuver. There's a furniture store in the strip mall, and they get big trucks delivering their merchandise."

"So you don't think it's likely that he would go that way?"

"Well, he might have, especially if he didn't know the area well. But, if a car was following him, he might get away from it by climbing over the wall."

"What wall?"

"There's a wall that separates the strip mall from the shopping center behind it. Sometimes local kids climb over the wall because there's an ice cream shop in the strip mall—"

"Wait, is the grocery store in the shopping center on the other side of the wall?"

"That's right."

"So Richardson could have started heading for the bar, climbed over the wall, spotted the grocery store, and decided to go there instead," Lee said thoughtfully.

"Or he could have climbed back over the wall further on to throw off the people who were after him," Amanda pointed out.

"Yeah, he could have done that." Lee was surprised that Amanda had thought of that. The idea hadn't even occurred to him. "We'll check both possibilities."

Amanda nodded. "While we're doing that, I'll have to try to think up something to tell Mother when I get home."

"What do you mean?"

"I told her that I was meeting some people from Save the Clams today."

"Oh, yeah, that club you made up. So, why do you need to tell her anything else?"

"The other day, I told her that I was picking up some pamphlets for the group."

"Yeah?"

"Now, she wants one. She was disappointed the other day when I told her that I'd lost the one I was going to bring her. I don't know what I'm going to tell her today."

"We'll think of something," Lee said with a sigh. "Come on, we've got to get going."

They began by walking down Madison to the bar. Their search of the area behind the strip mall didn't reveal any clues. Lee studied the ground as they walked along, looking for signs of struggle or anything that would suggest that Richardson had been there. All Amanda could see was the usual litter of fast food bags and some candy wrappers from Chocolate Chewie bars.

"I wish people would pick up after themselves," she grumbled, scooping up some of the wrappers and dropping them into a nearby dumpster.

Lee looked at her like she had come from another planet. He was used to working with people trained to notice little details, but not many of them would have bothered to pick up other people's little messes. Urban litter was simply not on their list of priorities. He had been right about Amanda. She was definitely a neatnik.

"I don't see many places where anyone could hide something," Amanda observed. "Unless he tossed it in one of the dumpsters?"

"Not likely," Lee said. "With something that confidential, he couldn't just chuck it anywhere. It would have to be someplace where the KGB wouldn't spot it right away, but someplace where he could retrieve it when he was able to. If he threw it in a dumpster, he'd be risking that it would be hauled to the dump before he could get to it."

Since the bar was closed, Lee suggested that they walk down to the diner and grab some lunch while they checked to see whether or not Richardson had been there.

"What about the grocery store?" Amanda asked.

"We'll check that after lunch," Lee said. "You said that Richardson might have gone through a couple of alleys to get to the diner?"

"That's right. I'm always telling Philip and Jamie to stay away from those alleys. They're kind of scary. Sometimes, strange people hang around there, and it's not safe."

"Show me where these alleys are. I'll protect you," Lee said with a grin.

"Speaking of strange people," Amanda thought to herself, but she smiled back at Lee.


	7. The Man in the Photograph

**Chapter 6: The Man in the Photograph**

"We haven't found them anywhere," Anton said in disgust. "Not at his home, not in his car. He must have left them somewhere when we were chasing him."

"But where?" Denis said. "We were watching him the entire time."

"Maybe he managed to meet his contact and pass them along to the Agency."

"If he had done that, we would know about it. Our superiors are confident that the Agency has not managed to decode our most recent communications."

"Then, he must have hidden them somewhere," Anton insisted.

"There were a few brief moments when we lost sight of him in the grocery store," Denis said thoughtfully. "He could have hidden them then."

Anton snorted. "That is ridiculous! The grocery store is too public. If he had hidden the disks there, someone would have found them by now."

"Can you think of a better place to search?"

"We are running out of places," Anton said with a sigh. "I suppose it could do no harm to look there."

"I have an even better idea," Denis said, smiling. "There may be a way that we can see exactly what Richardson did while he was in the store."

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The walk through the alleys was uneventful, although Amanda didn't like the look of a group of young men standing around near one of them. They looked like they were barely out of high school and, upon graduation, had taken up the hobby of loitering while smoking and looking tough and menacing. They watched Lee and Amanda as they walked by. Amanda walked a little closer to Lee, and Lee gave the young men a smile and nod. Amanda made a mental note to remind Philip and Jamie to stay away from this area.

As often happened when she felt nervous, Amanda started to babble. "You know that tonight's Halloween? One Halloween night when I was young, the brother of my best friend, Debbie Ann Macabie, dared us to walk the length of the alley behind their house. He promised us half of his candy if we'd do it. He told us that the alley was haunted by the ghost of a hobo who'd died there before we were born, and even though we didn't really believe that, we were kind of scared. There were no street lights around, so it was really dark, and we had to use flashlights to see where we were going."

Lee gave her a funny look, wondering where this story was going.

"We were about halfway down the alley," Amanda continued, "when suddenly something with a hideous, glowing face jumped out at us. Debbie Ann started to run away, screaming, but I hit the thing with my flashlight."

"What was it?" Lee asked.

"Debbie Ann's brother," Amanda said. "He'd come down the alley from the other direction and hid so that he could scare us. He was holding a flashlight that he'd borrowed from his father under his chin so that it would cast weird shadows on his face and he'd look scarier."

"So you beaned your friend's brother with a flashlight?" Lee asked.

"Yeah," Amanda said sheepishly. "He wasn't really hurt, but he dropped his father's flashlight when I hit him, and it broke. When we told his parents what happened, they grounded him and made him give us half his candy like he promised."

"Sounds like he deserved it."

"The next year, we wouldn't go near the alley, so and his friend Buster hid behind some bushes in their front yard, waiting to scare us. Debbie Ann and I got them from behind with a garden hose—"

"Keep your eyes open for clues in this alley, huh?" Lee said, trying to pull Amanda's attention back to the matter at hand.

Amanda started to relax and focus on looking for any signs that Richardson had been in the alley or any place where he could have hidden what he was carrying. She would have been frightened to be there by herself, but Lee's presence was reassuring.

Although Amanda had never actually walked down these alleys before herself, the people who hung out there weren't the type to be wearing a suit and tie like Lee was. Lee may have looked out of place, but something about the bold way that he looked at the young men at the entrance to the alley convinced them that it wasn't a good idea for them to interfere with his business there.

Most people who saw Lee would probably have described the way he walked as casual, but Amanda could tell that he was ready for trouble if it occurred. His hand hovered at the edge of his coat in case he needed to draw his gun, but it wasn't necessary. No one tried to follow them into the alley.

Like the area behind the strip mall, the alley was pretty sparse. There were some trash cans, but they rejected them as possible hiding places for the same reasons they rejected the dumpsters behind the strip mall.

"Nothing," Lee said in disgust as they exited the alley near the diner. "We're finding nothing and more nothing!"

"What do we do now?"

Lee glanced at his watch. "We might as well get something to eat. While we eat, we can talk about what we're going to do next."

The atmosphere of the diner was comfortable and quiet. They had just missed the lunch rush.

After the waitress took their order, Lee said, "Before we leave, I want to talk to the staff here about Richardson. The earlier search teams who were looking for Richardson were trying to maintain a low profile. They may not have talked to everyone. We could use an eyewitness, someone who saw Richardson, even briefly, and could give us a clue to where he'd been and where he went. It isn't likely that anyone witnessed the actual abduction because there haven't been any police reports about it."

"What about the employees at the gas station where he left his car?" Amanda asked. "Did anyone interview them?"

"Yes," Lee said. "One of them remembered seeing him on the phone, and he does appear briefly on their security cameras, but not enough to tell us which way he went when he left."

"Do you think he stopped here at the diner?"

"I don't know," Lee sighed, "but it's a possibility, so we should ask. Now, it's important that we not let on who Richardson really is and why we're looking for him. I could question the people here in my official capacity as a government agent, but I'd rather not reveal my real identity yet. I'd prefer to wait until I'm more sure of the situation."

"So what are you going to tell them?"

"The story is that Richardson is a relative of yours and he's been missing for a few days. We'll tell the employees here that you're very worried about him because he has a medical condition and someone said that he might be in the area. Then, we'll show them his picture and see if anyone recognizes him."

"Could I see the picture?" Amanda asked.

"Sure," Lee said, handing it to her.

Amanda studied it intensely.

"If anyone asks what kind of medical condition he has, tell them that—"

"Lee?"

"What?"

"We don't have to tell anyone anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've seen this man before."

"What do you mean you've seen him?"

"He was at the grocery store the night before last," Amanda said softly. "The one on Carver. He asked me for change for the phone."

"He what?" Lee demanded.

Amanda raised her eyes from the photograph and shrugged. "Looks like I'm your eyewitness."

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Anton nervously adjusted the collar of his trench coat. He had everything he needed to pull off this charade as long as he could continue speaking in the proper accent. He'd been practicing an American accent for just such an occasion, but this was the first time he had ever had to use it on someone. Quietly, he cursed Denis for not being as good with accents as he was.

Well, it couldn't be put off any longer. Denis was waiting for him in the car. The quicker he got this over with, the quicker they could return to the safe house, hopefully with the disks that Richardson had stolen. If not, they would make sure that Richardson paid dearly.

"Excuse me, Miss," Anton said in his best American accent.

The girl at the cash register turned to look at him. "How can I help you?"

"I'm from the government," he said, showing her his carefully-prepared badge. "I'd like to see your manager."


	8. The Man on the Video

**Chapter 7: The Man on the Video**

Over hamburgers and coffee, Lee got the entire story from Amanda: how she'd gone to the grocery store late to pick up a couple things and how Richardson had asked her for change for a dollar.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Lee demanded.

Amanda shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know that he was the man you were looking for. He never told me his name, and until you showed me the picture, I had no idea what Richardson looked like."

She had a point, but it galled Lee to think that they had spent the entire morning trying to trace Richardson's route when Amanda could have just told him where he'd ended up after he left the gas station.

"Did he say anything else?" Lee asked.

"Not really. I think he made some comment about a storm coming and told me to be careful going home. Does that mean anything?"

"I don't think so," Lee said. "Did you see anyone following him?"

"No, although I wasn't really looking for anyone."

"Did you see anyone else nearby at all, maybe someone watching you?"

"No."

Lee sighed and put his head in his hands. Having an eyewitness wasn't as helpful as he'd thought it would be.

"But maybe someone else saw something," Amanda suggested. "After all, I wasn't the only person in the store. Maybe he talked to some of the employees. Maybe he even bought something."

"I doubt it," Lee said. "Not if he was being chased by someone. But, talking to the employees might be a good idea. We should also take a look at the in-store security cameras. Even if none of the employees or customers saw anything, the cameras could give us what we need."

"How will you explain wanting to see the security cameras?" Amanda asked. "Are you going to use the lost relative story?"

"That would be enough to get people to look at Richardson's picture, but getting them to show us the videos from the security cameras would require having the proper credentials," Lee said. "We'll just tell them that it's part of a government investigation. It is the truth. We don't have to give them all the details."

"Lee," Amanda said hesitantly, "is it a really a good idea for me to go to the grocery store with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I go to that grocery store all the time, and the clerks all know me," Amanda said. "They'll probably wonder what I'm doing assisting with a government investigation, and Mother shops there, too, so someone might tell her . . ."

Lee nodded thoughtfully. He hadn't really wanted to bring Amanda along on this mission. It had been Billy's idea to have her come along, and this was an excuse to send her home, where she belonged.

"I see what you mean," Lee said. "In that case, maybe it's better if I go alone. I could call you later and tell you how it went. You've been a big help, Amanda. Thank you."

Amanda nodded, looking a little disappointed. "I have a couple of errands to run. Jamie needs a couple of things for his Halloween costume, so I think I'll go by Cozy Country on the way home. Since tonight's Halloween, I might not be home if you call this evening, so maybe we can talk tomorrow?"

"Sure," Lee said. "I'll let you know tomorrow what I found out."

They finished their coffee, and Lee walked Amanda back to her car. As he watched Amanda drive away, he was surprised to find himself feeling a little disappointed, too. Impatiently, he pushed the feeling aside and set out for the grocery store to continue their . . . _his_ investigation.

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"Were you successful?" Denis asked as Anton returned to the car.

"Yes," Anton said. "I think I know what he did with the disks."

"Well? Where are they?" Denis demanded.

"He gave them to a woman."

"What woman?"

"A woman that he stopped to talk to in the store."

"Are you sure that she has the disks?"

"Yes. I managed to get the woman's name and address."

"We will pay her a visit tonight."

"But there will be too many people on the street tonight," Anton protested.

"That is not a bad thing," Denis said patiently. "The more people on the street, the better we will be able to blend in."

"How can we blend in with children in costume?" Anton demanded.

Denis smiled.

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Lee didn't go straight to the grocery store after leaving the diner. Instead, he walked the path that Amanda had mapped out for him when they were considering possible routes that Richardson could have covered. She was probably right in thinking that Richardson had jumped the wall behind the strip mall. That was a pretty clever suggestion. At least, it was pretty clever for someone as inexperienced as she was.

Lee walked up and down beside the wall for a few minutes, trying to decide exactly where Richardson would have climbed over. In a way, he wished that Amanda was here to give her opinion. Unlike him, she knew what the shopping center on the other side of the wall was like. Of course, he reasoned, Richardson wouldn't have known what to expect on the other side of the wall, either.

As Lee selected what seemed like a good place to climb over, he thought that maybe it was a good thing that Amanda wasn't there to do this. She had worn high heels and a nice blouse when she'd come to meet him. The high heels wouldn't have been good for climbing the wall, and her blouse might have gotten ruined.

Yet, he found himself kind of missing her. It had been awhile since he'd had someone he could talk things over with while he was on a mission.

With a snort, he reminded himself that a lot of Amanda's talk was random babble and rambling stories. He wasn't sure why she'd told him that story about being scared by her friend's brother on Halloween, but the image of a young Amanda whacking some young jerk who probably needed it did bring a smile to his face. She certainly could be feisty when she wanted to be.

Shaking his head, Lee put thoughts of Amanda out of his mind and climbed over the wall. As it happened, he'd chosen a pretty good spot. Lee found himself behind the grocery store, near the doors where they received their deliveries. Odds were good that Richardson had climbed over the wall at the same spot or somewhere nearby.

Getting down from the wall was a little tricky. For some reason, the ground was uneven, and it was a little longer distance to the ground on the grocery store side of the wall. Lee wondered if Richardson had been able to see that in the dark. He could have hurt himself if he hadn't.

There was nowhere in the area behind the grocery store that looked like it would make a good hiding place for the disks. Like the area behind the strip mall, there were dumpsters and the usual litter on the ground, including more Chocolate Chewie wrappers, like the ones Amanda had picked up. Lee continued around to the front of the store. The best course of action was to have a look at the store's security tapes.

The store manager didn't seem as surprised by Lee's request as he thought he'd be. Lee's government ID was enough to convince the store manager to let him see the tapes from the security cameras.

To Lee's surprise, the manager said, "I thought that the other investigator got all of the information you needed."

"What are you talking about?" Lee asked.

"There was another man here earlier today who asked to see the security tapes," the manager explained. "He had a badge, too, just like yours."

"What did he say his name was?"

"Felix Richardson."

It couldn't be, Lee thought. If Richardson was free to move around Arlington, he would have contacted the Agency. What reason could he have for looking at the security tapes?

"And you showed the tapes to him?" Lee asked.

"Sure," the manager said.

"I need you to show the tapes to me, and I'd like you to watch them with me and tell me if you see Richardson."

It wasn't hard to find the moment when Richardson met Amanda by the candy display. Lee and the store manager watched Amanda give Richardson change for a dollar.

"Is that the man who came here earlier today?" Lee asked, pointing to Richardson.

"No," the manager said. "I don't think I've ever seen that man before. That's Amanda King he's talking to, though."

So, Amanda was right. Everyone at this store did know who she was.

They kept watching the tape until after Richardson walked away and Amanda went back to shopping for Halloween candy.

"Three bags?" thought Lee. That seemed like a lot. Of course, Lee never bought Halloween candy. There were no children in his apartment building, so there wasn't really any point.

Lee switched tapes, following Richardson's progress through the store. Eventually, he found the tape that showed Richardson at the pay phone. Richardson had barely started dialing when another man came up behind him. The other man stood very close to Richardson's back and said something. Then, the two of them walked out of the store together.

"That man there is Richardson," the manager said, pointing to the man who had come up behind the real Richardson.

"He's the one you showed the security tapes to?" Lee asked. He recognized the man as Anton Kozlov.

"That's right," the manager said. "Then, I told him how to get in touch with Mrs. King."

"You did _what_?!" Lee asked sharply.

"He picked her out of the security tapes," the manager explained. "He said that the man she was talking to, the man he apprehended in the store that night, was wanted for a crime and that he was looking for possible witnesses. Since the man talked to her, he thought that Mrs. King might know something."

"Did you tell him where Mrs. King lives?" Lee asked. The burger that he'd had at lunch seemed to turn to lead in his stomach.

The store manager nodded. "He had all the proper identification. Why?"

Why? That was a good question. Why the interest in Amanda?

"Let me borrow your phone," Lee said.

He insisted that the manager leave the room while he dialed Amanda's number. Although he wouldn't have admitted it out loud, he was scared. It seemed to take forever for her to pick up the phone. He hoped that she wasn't still out shopping.

"Hello?" Amanda said when she finally answered.

"Amanda, are you okay?" Lee asked.

"Sure, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Look, don't go anywhere, okay? I'm going to come to your house later."

"How much later? Remember, it's Halloween, and I'm going trick-or-treating with the boys."

"Have your mother do it. Tell her you're not feeling well."

"Lee, what's going on?"

Another good question, Lee thought.

"I'll tell you when I get there. Just don't open the door to any strangers."

From the sound of Amanda's voice, she was trying very hard to be patient. "Lee, it's Halloween. All sorts of strangers . . ."

"Fine! Then, don't open the door to anyone who looks like he might be over the age of twelve. Just wait for me."

When Lee got off the phone with Amanda, he placed another quick call to the Agency, arranging for a security team to keep an eye on Amanda's house. Even though he had warned her to be careful, he hadn't been very specific. It was hard to be specific when he wasn't sure what to expect, either. He left orders for the security team to be prepared for anything, to keep their eyes open for anything unusual, and to prevent anyone suspicious from approaching the house.

"Uh, Scarecrow, . . ." the agent taking the message started to say.

"Yes, I am aware that it's Halloween," Lee said impatiently. "I'm not talking about kids in costume, I'm talking about KGB agents! I'm sure you know how to tell the difference."

After Lee hung up, he found the manager and asked to see the video of Amanda again. Something must have happened that made them think that Amanda was important. They may have thought that Richardson told Amanda where he'd hidden the disks. But, if he'd said anything to Amanda, she would have said so. There had to be another explanation. And Lee was suddenly afraid that it knew what it was.

Richardson's back was to the camera, so Lee couldn't see whether he was talking or not while Amanda rummaged in her purse. Now that he was watching closely, though, he could see that Richardson was doing something with his hands. It looked like he'd taken something from his pocket.

"Back that part up," Lee commanded, edging closer to the screen.

Richardson's body largely blocked his view of the cart, so it was hard to be sure, but Lee was almost certain . . .

"Oh, no," he whispered.

Richardson had slipped something into Amanda's cart. It was difficult to see what it was. On the screen, it just looked like some dark-colored object. Lee wondered why Amanda hadn't told him about this. He studied the screen more carefully. It looked like Amanda was still staring into her purse. Maybe she didn't know what Richardson did. But how could she have missed seeing a strange object in her cart?

"Thank you," Lee said to the manager, giving him one of his cards with only his phone number on it. "If you see or hear from the man calling himself Richardson, contact me immediately."

"Alright," the manager said. "Do you need Mrs. King's address to see if he's contacted her?"

"No," Lee said firmly. "And don't give her address or phone number to anyone else. Contact me if anyone asks for it."

The manager looked confused, but he nodded his agreement.

Lee made a mental note to tell Amanda to switch grocery stores later, preferably to one that wasn't so free with personal information. For now, he had to get to her and find what Richardson had put in her cart. Although, he wanted to stop by his apartment first. Amanda had a point that her neighborhood would be crawling with people this evening. If he showed up in a suit, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. He did have an outfit that might help him blend in, although he had a feeling that the security team would get a big kick out of it.


	9. The Man in the Scarecrow Costume

**Chapter 8: The Man in the Scarecrow Costume**

"I'm sorry I can't go with you, boys," Amanda said. "I'm just not feeling well."

"Aww!" said Jamie the scarecrow.

They had chosen the costume for him before Amanda had met Lee. Jamie's teacher had been reading The Wizard of Oz to his class. Jamie happened to like the scarecrow character in the story, and the costume was an easy one to prepare. Aside from the old clothes he was wearing, Amanda had only had to buy a hat and some decorative straw from Cozy County.

The costume was adorable and definitely fit with Dotty's harvest theme. It made Amanda smile to think how scarecrows had suddenly come to feature prominently in her life.

"Are you okay, mom?" Amanda's other son, Philip, asked her. His concerned expression looked strange when paired with his plastic vampire fangs.

"I'll be okay, sweetheart," Amanda said. "I just have a very bad headache."

"I hope you're not getting a migraine," Dotty said. "Sometimes I get terrible ones."

Dotty was wearing her square dancing outfit. Even though Amanda told her that she didn't have to dress up to take the boys trick-or-treating, Dotty said that she felt like getting into the spirit of things. Of course, she meant the harvest festival spirit of things, not the scary stuff.

"Mom doesn't usually get migraines," Philip said thoughtfully.

"I really think I just need to rest for awhile," Amanda said.

"I'm not surprised that you're tired with the kind of day you've been having," Dotty agreed. "It really is a shame that the water from the broken aquarium destroyed all of your group's pamphlets."

"Yes, Mother," Amanda said, "but at least we did manage to, you know, save the clams from the aquarium."

"Putting them into dishpans until you could get another aquarium set up was good thinking," Dotty said. "You really do have a way with animals, Amanda."

"Thank you." Amanda really was thankful that her mother seemed to believe her story.

"But for tonight, I think you should just stay home, rest, and pass out candy."

"Right, Mother," Amanda said. She was still disappointed at missing out on trick-or-treating with the boys.

"It's just as well, really," Dotty said as she handed the boys their treat bags and hustled them toward the door. "You haven't gotten the candy out yet, and I have no idea where you've hidden it."

"Oh! You're right. I almost forgot," Amanda said. Her mind had been on Lee Stetson and whatever he was going to tell her this evening. Whatever it was, he'd better have a good reason for making her miss out on the Halloween fun with Philip and Jamie.

"I just hope that we don't get any pranksters tonight," Dotty said as they walked outside. "Although I've taken steps to make sure that they stay out of my rose bushes."

"What do you mean, Mother?" Amanda asked.

Dotty just smiled and said, "Don't worry. It's just a little joke of my own. Nothing scary, I promise! Just rest up and have fun passing out the candy. Bye!"

Amanda was a little worried. Hopefully, Lee would avoid the rose bushes and whatever her mother may have put there. She also hoped that he would come soon.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

"This is ridiculous!" Anton said for about the tenth time that evening.

"I keep telling you," Denis insisted, "what better way to blend in with people in costume than to wear costumes ourselves?"

"But this is for children!" Anton protested. "How can we blend in with children?"

"Not everyone out tonight is a child," Denis said. "There are some adults escorting the children as they go from house to house. Some of them are even wearing costumes." He pointed to a grown woman with fairy wings holding the hands of two little girls as they crossed the street. Another woman in some kind of fancy, frilly dress was walking with a small vampire and scarecrow.

"What a pity that we didn't think to bring a child with us to escort," Anton grumbled.

"We don't need one," Denis said reasonably. "All we need to do is find a group of children heading toward the woman's house and follow a little behind them. Anyone seeing us will assume that we are looking after the children."

"And then what?"

"Then, we let the children move on, and we go after what we came for."

Anton continued grumbling as he put on the mask that Denis had given him. "I knew that it was a mistake to let you get the costumes. It's hot, wearing this thing. I would rather have your costume."

Denis's mask only covered half of his face.

"Stop complaining," Denis said as he tied his mask in place. "The shopkeeper told me that your costume was perfect for Halloween, so you may as well enjoy the spirit of the holiday."

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

The agents in the surveillance van outside of Amanda's house were certainly not enjoying the spirit of the holiday.

"Hey, kids! Stop that!" Fred Fielder yelled at some boys who were trying to soap the windows of the van.

"Let's go!" one of the boys yelled, and they took off running.

"Kids!" one of the other agents muttered. "I never did stuff like that when I was a kid."

"I did," his partner said with a grin. "Then, my old man took a rolled up newspaper to my behind and grounded me for a week. That was after he made me clean up the mess."

"Kids these days just don't get that kind of discipline," Fred Fielder observed. "Their parents just let them run wild after they eat all that sugary candy." He ripped open the bag of candy he had brought with him. "Anyone else want a Chocolate Chewie?"

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

As soon as her family was out the door, Amanda got a big bowl from the kitchen and went to retrieve the candy from her secret hiding place in the living room. She nudged aside the bag of marshmallows and pulled out the grocery bag of Halloween candy. When she set the bag on the coffee table and began pulling out the packages of candy, she noticed something odd.

"I thought I only bought three bags of candy," she mused. "There are four here. Where did the other one come from?"

There was the package of Chocolate Chewies, the package of strawberry licorice, and the package of caramels. At the bottom of the grocery bag, there was another bag of Chocolate Chewies. For a moment, Amanda wondered if she hadn't picked up a second package by accident, perhaps when Richardson had distracted her by asking for change. However, the second package had already been opened. It wasn't as full as the first one, and Amanda thought that she could feel some sharp-cornered object inside.

Before she could investigate further, the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" Amanda called. She shoved the extra candy bag back into the hiding place with the marshmallows. Then, she quickly dumped the first package of Chocolate Chewies into the candy bowl and headed to the front door.

"Trick or treat!" shouted the group of children, holding out their treat bags.

"What wonderful costumes!" Amanda exclaimed, giving a Chocolate Chewie to each of them.

"Thank you!" they said, running down the front path and on to the next house.

Amanda ducked back into the house, setting the candy bowl next to the front door. She was planning to take another look at the mysterious second bag of Chocolate Chewies, but before she could retrieve it from its hiding place, she heard something at the back door.

"Lee?" she called hopefully.

Amanda hurried into the family room, then paused uncertainly. There were two figures at Amanda's back door. One of them was dressed as a cowboy with a bandana around the lower part of his face, and the other one was dressed as a scarecrow wearing a pumpkin mask with a jack-o-lantern face. The scarecrow was jiggling the door handle.

"Lee?" Amanda called again, hurrying over to open the door. "Lee, is that you? Who did you bring with you? Did you find Richardson?"

The two men looked at each other.

"Never mind," Amanda said. "Get in here quickly."

The scarecrow and the cowboy came inside.

"Clever costume, Scarecrow," Amanda said, smiling. "I'm glad you're here. I bet I can guess what you wanted to talk to me about."

The cowboy scratched his head while the scarecrow just stared at her silently. Before Amanda could say anything more, the doorbell rang again.

"Wait just a moment, I'll be right back," Amanda said, hurrying off to give candy to the next group of trick-or-treaters.

It turned out to be a large group with about a dozen kids. While Amanda finished handing out the candy, the cowboy and scarecrow wandered through the kitchen and dining room, past Amanda at the front door, and into the living room.

When the trick-or-treaters finally left, she joined them in the living room, setting the candy bowl on the coffee table. The scarecrow was holding the bag of strawberry licorice, turning it over in his hands. The cowboy seemed to be studying the package of caramels.

"I really should have added some of the other kinds of candy to the bowl," Amanda remarked, "but I just didn't have time earlier."

The scarecrow put down the bag of licorice and began rooting around among the Chocolate Chewies in the candy bowl.

"Sure, you can have a piece, if you want. They're all Chocolate Chewies. But, I really think that we should get down to business. We really need to talk."

Suddenly, the scarecrow dumped all of the candy in the bowl onto the coffee table.

"Lee? What are you doing?" Amanda asked. She reached over to pick up the candy bowl and put the candy back, but the cowboy stopped her.

"You have something we want, Mrs. King," the cowboy said with a strong Russian accent. "You should give it to us." He gripped her arm so tightly it hurt.

Frightened, Amanda turned to look at the scarecrow again. For the first time, she realized that the eyes that looked out of the pumpkin-shaped mask weren't Lee's kind hazel eyes but a pair of much colder gray ones.

"Tell us where it is," the scarecrow said, also with a Russian accent.

"Where what is?"

"The item that Richardson gave you! Where is it?" the cowboy demanded.

So, these were the men who had kidnapped Richardson, Amanda thought. The fact that they had tracked her down confirmed what she had already started to suspect about that second bag of Chocolate Chewies. It took all of Amanda's willpower not to look in the direction of the candy's hiding place.

"You should tell us what we want to know," the scarecrow said. "Otherwise, it could get very painful . . . for you."

Staring at the two costumed strangers, all Amanda could think was, "Lee, where are you?"


	10. Beware of the Cow

**Chapter 9: Beware of the Cow**

Lee checked in with the security detail in front of Amanda's house. So far, everything was quiet.

"Only trick-or-treaters going up to the place," one of the men said with a grin. "Nice costume, Scarecrow."

"Thank you," Lee said graciously, adjusting his eye patch. He supposed that it was fortunate that he still had the pirate outfit he'd borrowed so that he could talk to Amanda at that fast food place, but at the moment, Lee wasn't feeling too fortunate. Once this got around the bullpen at the Agency, people would be making pirate jokes for weeks.

He left the van with the security team in it and walked up to Amanda's front door. He wasn't too worried about anyone seeing him there. Dotty and the boys had probably already left to go trick-or-treating, and anyone else who spotted him would just assume that he was on his way to a Halloween party.

Lee rang the bell twice and knocked, but there was no answer. Something was wrong. Amanda knew that he was coming. At the very least, she should have been waiting by the door for trick-or-treaters. Lee circled around the back.

On the way, he passed the two cow stakes that Dotty had put near her flowers. Lee shook his head. "Beware of the Cow." What the heck was that supposed to mean, anyway?

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

"I really should answer that," Amanda said to the cowboy as the doorbell rang for the second time. "Someone will wonder if I don't."

"We don't want anyone coming to investigate. Put some candy back in the bowl and take it to the children," the cowboy said to the scarecrow. "I will deal with the woman."

The scarecrow began gathering up the candy, although Amanda could tell that he wasn't too happy about it.

"Now, what did you do with it?" the cowboy hissed in Amanda's ear. "You can tell me on your own or I can make you tell me."

He squeezed her arm tighter, and Amanda gasped in pain.

"I . . . I put it in the kitchen," she said.

"In the kitchen?"

"That's right. The kitchen," Amanda said. "I didn't think anyone would be likely to look there."

"Show me."

While the man in the scarecrow costume went to the front door, Amanda led the cowboy into the kitchen.

"It's just the two of us alone," she thought. She knew it might be her only opportunity for escape.

"Where did you put it?" the cowboy demanded, keeping his iron grip on her arm.

"It's in there," Amanda said, pointing to the cabinets under the stove.

The cowboy pulled her over to the stove. Keeping his hand on her arm, he bent down to look in the cabinets.

As soon as he bent over, Amanda grabbed the meat tenderizer on the kitchen counter and whacked him on the head with it. It was a good blow, but not enough to knock him out. He did loosen his grip on her, and she tried to make a break for it. She only got about three steps before he grabbed hold of her again.

"You'll pay for that," he hissed.

The scarecrow returned from the front door, still holding the candy bowl. He said, "There was no one at the door when I opened it."

"They probably got tired of waiting," the cowboy said. "If someone comes to the door again, you can tend to them. Until then, help me to make the woman tell us what she did with the item Richardson gave to her."

Suddenly he grabbed Amanda's hair and yanked hard, pulling her head painfully back. Amanda cried out.

"Freeze!" a familiar voice said. "Let her go!"

The cowboy let go of her hair, and Amanda lifted her head to see a pirate pointing a gun at her captors. She smiled, recognizing both the costume and the man wearing it. The man in the scarecrow costume froze, but the cowboy pulled Amanda closer, holding her in front of him like a shield.

"I said, let her go!" Lee repeated, his voice hard.

"You won't want to risk shooting the lady," the cowboy said, edging backwards toward the dining room. He pulled Amanda along with him, and she knew that he was planning to drag her toward the front door.

"I could shoot your friend instead," Lee said, pointing his gun at the man in the scarecrow costume.

The cowboy took another step backward. "Shooting him won't do any good. I still have the lady."

"If you do anything to her—"

Lee was cut off as the man in the scarecrow costume suddenly lobbed the bowl of candy at his head. He ducked, and the scarecrow dodged to the side, ducking behind the kitchen island. Lee rushed into the kitchen after him. The cowboy shoved Amanda at Lee and ran through the dining room, heading for the front door. Lee caught Amanda with his free hand. The scarecrow jumped up and ran out the kitchen door and into the backyard.

"Stay here!" Lee ordered, releasing Amanda and running after the cowboy.

Amanda turned to look at the back door. The man in the scarecrow costume was gone. He could have jumped over the back fence, but Amanda's instincts told her that he would probably try to meet up with his partner at the front of the house. If he did that, Lee would be facing the two of them alone. She hurried to the front door.

Lee was standing just inside the door. The cowboy was on the path leading to the front gate. Lee about to fire at him when a group of trick-or-treaters came up to the gate and blocked the cowboy's escape path.

"Lee, be careful! The children!" Amanda cried.

Lee cursed and holstered his gun, running after the cowboy as he took off across Amanda's lawn.

"Look, a cowboy!" one of the trick-or-treaters said. "Why's that pirate chasing him?"

"And there's a scarecrow!" said another.

"What are they doing?" someone else asked.

The group of children stood on the front walk, staring in fascination as the pirate tackled the cowboy on the lawn. The two of them rolled around on the grass. The scarecrow drew a gun from inside his coat, but with Lee and the cowboy rolling around on the ground, there was no way he could shoot Lee without risking his partner's life.

People on the sidewalk stopped to stare at Amanda's yard, and Amanda saw some men in suits get out of a nearby van and come running. At first, she was afraid that it was more KGB agents, but then she realized that she recognized a couple of them from the Agency. They pushed through the group of trick-or-treaters and headed for the cowboy-pirate-scarecrow fight on the lawn. Amanda was worried that they would begin shooting at each other.

"Children! Come over here!" Amanda called, trying to get the trick-or-treaters away from the fighting, but no one paid any attention to her.

She ducked inside and grabbed the candy bowl, hurriedly scooping candy into it. Her thought had been to distract the children with the candy, but then she had a better idea.

When she came back out, one of the suit-wearing agents was trying unsuccessfully to shoo the trick-or-treaters out of the yard. The scarecrow tried to pull the pirate off of the cowboy, but another agent grabbed him and delivered a good blow to his jaw. The third agent tried pull the cowboy off of Lee, but the two of them rolled over again and knocked him off his feet. The children were enjoying the show and started cheering for their favorite combatants.

Amanda grabbed the garden hose and turned the water on full blast. The man in the scarecrow costume had tried to go for his gun again, but Amanda aimed the water directly at his head, blinding him momentarily. It gave the agent fighting him the chance to disarm him. Another agent circled around to grab him from behind.

Meanwhile, Lee seemed to be gaining the upper hand in his own fight. Lee pulled the cowboy to his feet and punched the side of his face. The cowboy stumbled backward, tripped over the "Beware of the Cow" sign, and fell into a nearby bush.

Suddenly, a pair of bright red eyes appeared in the bush, and there was a loud, unearthly, "MooooOOOooo!"

The children screamed. The scarecrow screamed. The two agents who didn't already have their hands full drew their guns and pointed them at the bush, ready to shoot whatever was making the ungodly noise.

Desperately, the cowboy tried to yank himself free from the bush, setting off another blood-curdling "MoooOOOooo!" Finally managing to pull himself out of the bush, he tried to make a break for it. Lee caught him just as he tripped over the "Please don't pick the flowers" sign. One more hit, and the pirate knocked the cowboy flat.

The glowing red eyes vanished from the bush, and the moos stopped. With puzzled glances at each other, the agents holstered their guns and started picking up the cowboy and scarecrow, leading them back to the van. The trick-or-treaters and other bystanders were still watching the scene. The kids were loving it, but the adults looked worried and confused.

"Um, I . . . um . . ." Amanda struggled to think of what to say to her neighbors and the children.

Lee laughed and waved at everyone. "Show's over, folks! Hope you enjoyed our little Halloween performance!"

The adults on the street laughed, although it was kind of confused laughter. The children kept saying that the whole thing was "cool" and "awesome" and they wanted to see it again. Amanda tried to distract them all by offering candy.

When everyone was gone, Lee ushered Amanda back into the house.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Good," Lee said. "Richardson slipped something into your cart when you were at the store. Did you notice anything strange among your groceries? Anything you didn't intend to buy?"

Amanda nodded. "I think I know what they wanted. I didn't find it until I went to fill the candy bowl. Wait just a minute. I'll get it."

The doorbell rang again.

Amanda handed the candy bowl to Lee. "Here. Take care of the trick-or-treaters, okay? I'll be right back."

"Take care of—?" Lee muttered. Someone started knocking on the door.

With a sigh, Lee opened the door to a group of kids who hollered, "Trick-or-treat!"

"Nice costumes," he said awkwardly, dropping a piece of candy into each of their bags.

A little girl dressed as a fairy princess giggled shyly at him. Lee gave her a wink and was rewarded with another cute giggle.

"That fight with the cowboy and the scarecrow was awesome!" said one of the bigger boys. He was wearing a trench coat and an old fedora, reminding Lee a bit of Humphrey Bogart.

"Thank you," Lee said. "What's your costume?"

"I'm a spy!" the boy said proudly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you could probably tell easier if mom had let me wear the sunglasses, too."

"Probably, but mothers can be funny about things like that," Lee said, imagining the boy bumping into anything and everything while wearing his sunglasses at night. "Of course, not being recognized as a spy is pretty important to spy work," he added.

"I guess so," the boy said thoughtfully. "Happy Halloween!"

"Happy Halloween to you, too!" Lee said, waving goodbye as the boy trotted off after his friends. He turned to find Amanda standing directly behind him.

"Mothers can be funny about what?"

"Never mind," Lee said, shutting the door and locking it. He set the candy bowl next to the door. "Did you find what Richardson gave you?"

"I've got it here," Amanda said, handing him the bag of candy.

"Chocolate Chewies?" Lee asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look inside."

Among the few pieces of candy left in the bag, Lee found a note and some computer disks held together with a rubber band.

"Excellent!" Lee said. "Amanda, this is great!"

"Are those the disks with the codes on them?"

"It looks like it. Crypto is going to be very glad to see these!" Lee tapped the disks. "There's also a note with an address. I think it may be the location of the Russian safe house. If Richardson is still alive, they may be holding him there."

"You think it might still be possible to rescue him?"

"I hope so. I've got to get these disks to the Agency immediately and assemble a team to go after Richardson."

"Good luck storming the ship," Amanda said, pointing to his costume.

Lee glanced down. "Yeah, right. Thanks, Amanda!"

With that, he disappeared into the night.

* * *

Author's Note: MooooOOOooo!

"I'm already tired of that joke, but I can't stop saying it." - Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Amanda's Partner**

"All in all, it ended pretty well," Billy said to Lee and Francine the next day as they discussed the case in his office. "We got Richardson back. The Russians will need to find a new safe house. The disks Richardson passed to us contain all of the codes they've been using lately, which effectively cripples their communications for awhile. They're scrambling now to assemble new ones."

"I guess it ended well enough," Lee said, "although somebody soaped the windows of my Porsche while I was at Amanda's, and it will be weeks before everyone in the bullpen stops saying 'Arrrr!' every time they see me."

Billy grinned broadly, and Francine laughed.

Francine said, "I don't understand why Richardson put the disks in the candy bag or why he gave them to Amanda King."

Billy answered, "Apparently, he just likes Chocolate Chewies and happened to have a mostly-empty bag in his pocket the night he met Mrs. King in the grocery store. When he saw another bag of the same kind of candy in her cart, he saw his chance to hand off the disks before the KGB caught him. He planned to describe Mrs. King to us over the phone so that we could track her down and get the disks from her."

"He had no idea that we already knew Amanda, and Amanda had no idea what he put in her cart," Lee added. "She just put the bag with the disks in it with the other candy until Halloween night."

"How is Mrs. King doing? Did her family see any of what happened?" Billy asked.

"No, they didn't," Lee said. He had stopped by Amanda's house around lunchtime, without Billy even asking him to, to see that Amanda was alright. "Although word has gotten around the neighborhood about it. She told her mother that it was just a Halloween prank by some college kids or something. Amanda's fine. She's just a little irritated at missing trick-or-treating with her kids."

Francine flashed Lee a wicked grin. "Did she ever tell you what that thing was in the bushes in her front yard? Fred Fielder said that it sounded like an angry demonic cow."

Lee looked uncomfortable. "Well, in a way, that's what it was. An angry cow, I mean, but not necessarily demonic."

Billy grinned. "You'll have to explain that one, Scarecrow."

"Apparently, Amanda's mother bought this thing at some shop called Cozy Country that looks sort of like a cow. It's motion-activated. She put it in her bushes on Halloween to keep kids from messing with her flowers."

"What does it do exactly?" Billy asked.

Lee sighed. "Its eyes glow and it makes a loud mooing sound."

"So, that's why there was a sign that said, 'Beware of the Cow,'" Francine said. "Fred was wondering about that, too."

"Yeah," Lee said. "According to Amanda, her mother didn't want to have any scary monster decorations in the yard that might frighten the young children. She prefers to think of Halloween more as a peaceful harvest time, so she got Pedro the Bull instead."

"Pedro the Bull?" Billy asked.

"That's what Amanda says its name is," Lee grumbled.

Francine snickered. "According to Fred, the KGB thinks that Pedro the Bull is scary enough."

"Fred's one to talk," Lee commented. "He's one of the ones who almost shot it."

After the three of them enjoyed a good laugh, Billy said, "Francine, would you go to Cryptology and get their report?"

Francine gave Billy a suspicious look. She knew that they were about to discuss something interesting, but she left anyway.

When she was gone, Billy said, "Pedro the Bull aside, it seems that Mrs. King has come in handy yet again."

"Billy, having two lucky incidents doesn't mean that she's Agency material. You know that she actually let the KGB into her house? If I hadn't gotten there when I did . . ."

Lee didn't want to think about what might have happened to the poor housewife if she'd had to face the KGB alone. Amanda King might think that playing at spies was fun and exciting, but the KGB certainly wasn't playing.

"She figured out what the KGB was searching for, and she managed to keep it hidden from them until you arrived."

"Yeah, by hiding it with the marshmallows, wherever she keeps those."

"Hiding it where?"

"Forget it," Lee said. "Look, I just think that, even though Amanda King is a nice lady and probably an excellent den mother, she has this tendency to get herself into trouble."

"Like someone else I know," Billy said pointedly. "Yet, she also seems to have a knack for helping you out. Of course, if you really don't want her as a partner, I could pair her with Richardson."

"Richardson?" Lee said uneasily.

"I find it interesting that two of my agents happened to pick the same woman to help them when they were in a jam, and she managed to help them both times."

"But, Richardson? At least I asked Amanda to carry the package I gave her. She had the chance to say no. Richardson just dumped those disks in her cart without even warning her that she might be in danger!"

"True," Billy said thoughtfully. "That was reckless of him. Still, he's a pretty good agent, and his mission was successful."

"Look, the guy is an okay agent, even if he did get caught by the KGB this time and needed to be rescued, but do you really think that he can handle Amanda King? Trouble does seem to follow her around. Giving her to someone as reckless as Richardson would be pretty scary."

"Really?"

"Yes, really! And besides . . ." Lee paused, fishing for another excuse.

"Besides, what?"

"The guy's a player."

"He's what?"

"He's a playboy."

"No kidding."

"I don't think it's a good idea to give him a female partner, especially Amanda. I don't think she'd know how to handle him."

"Well, since she seems to be handling you alright, I guess it's best that I keep the two of you together."

"Billy, we're not together, and—"

"Have you finished with Mrs. King's background check? Remember, I want it by next week."

Billy shooed Lee out of his office with a grin that would rival any jack-o-lantern.

The End

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


End file.
